Chapter 130: Special Aluminum Alloy, Ultra-Light Mortar!

Li Mingyuan briefly reported on the progress of the Numerical Control Machine Tool transformation and the Radar System, then added, "There is another new project under conception, but it requires some special materials."

Minister Zhao's eyes lit up, "Good! Whatever materials you need, just ask; you have priority access to this batch of supplies!"

The allocation of work continued until late at night; when Li Mingyuan dragged his exhausted body back to the Siheyuan, it was already midnight.

The guard stationed at the courtyard gate stood at attention and saluted; Li Mingyuan nodded and walked into his small courtyard.

The Siheyuan was in Silence, with only the lights in Jia Dongxu's house still on.

Through the window crack, one could see him and Qin Huairu talking in low voices, their expressions grave.

Li Mingyuan paid no mind, walked straight into his room, opened his briefcase, took out a stack of design drafts, and continued the work unfinished from last night.

……

In the days that followed, industrial enterprises across the country felt a great relief in the pressure of supplies.

Steel mills, machinery plants, chemical plants... factories that had once been semi-idled due to raw material shortages were now all back to full-load operation.

At a certain steel mill, the transformation of the Top-Bottom Combined Blowing Converter had just been completed.

"Output has increased by 40%, while coke consumption has dropped by 15%!" the Factory Director reported excitedly to Minister Zhao, who had come for an inspection, "The most critical thing is that the steel quality has improved significantly, with strength 30% higher than before!"

Minister Zhao nodded with satisfaction, "How is the transformation going at the other steel mills?"

"They have all been completed," the Technical Director replied, "Following the blueprints provided by Chief Engineer Li, we also added trace elements such as vanadium and titanium during the steelmaking process, producing a batch of special alloy steel that fully meets the requirements of military production."

At the same time, the numerical control transformation of the three production lines at the Rolling Mill was also nearing completion.

Workers were gradually becoming familiar with the operation of these new devices, despite some initial resistance and discomfort.

"This thing is really eerie," Lao Zhang said while debugging a numerical control lathe to a new young worker, "Remember the sequence of these buttons; if you press the wrong one, the machine will go on strike."

"Lao Zhang, where did you learn this technique?" the young worker asked curiously.

"Where else could I learn it? By following Chief Engineer Li," Lao Zhang said with a proud look.

"At first I was worried this machine would steal our rice bowls, but later I realized that once we master this technology, we won't be the same anymore!!"

The machine tool emitted a steady humming sound, the cutting tool moved precisely according to the preset program, and a complex part gradually took shape before their eyes, with precision several times higher than manual processing.

"See that? This is called science," Lao Zhang said triumphantly, "Chief Engineer Li said that in the future, factories across the country will use this kind of machine; those of us who learn it first will be the hot commodities!"

On the other side, good news also came from the automobile factory.

The high-efficiency Engine developed by Li Mingyuan was finally assembled onto the first "Jiefang" brand truck, and all test indicators exceeded expectations.

"Fuel consumption is 25% lower than the old engine, yet horsepower has increased by 30%!" the automobile factory engineer reported excitedly to the visiting Military Representative.

"The most critical thing is the cold-start performance; it can start easily even at minus 30 degrees, which is a life-saving technology in the northern regions!"

The Military Representative nodded with satisfaction, "Arrange for a batch of vehicles to be put into production as soon as possible; the front line is in urgent need of such transport vehicles."

Just as the domestic industry was developing in full swing, the first batch of export weapons also began to be loaded.

At a certain coastal port, several cargo ships were loading wooden crates and metal boxes.

"Be careful, these are precious treasures," the dock worker shouted, "Don't bump or knock them."

The boxes were stamped with eye-catching labels: Improved Type Automatic Rifle and mm Rocket Launcher.

These weapons were produced according to the designs improved by Li Mingyuan, with significantly enhanced performance; in particular, the Type Rifle had reliability in extreme environments that even surpassed the original AK-47.

The port commander watched the ships full of weapons slowly pull away from the port, a complex expression on his face.

"Who would have thought that our Long Country would also have a day where we export weapons to foreign countries."

"I hope these weapons can prove their value in actual combat," the commander said, "Only then can we win more orders and exchange them for more of the supplies we need."

……

Deep in the night, in the Rolling Mill laboratory, Li Mingyuan was still working at his desk.

This was his favorite time—no meetings, no visitors, no security personnel staring from behind—he could devote himself entirely to technical research.

A pile of data and blueprints were spread out on the table, and the design for the Mortar was gradually taking shape.

Li Mingyuan flipped through the materials while quickly calculating on his scratch paper.

"The Mortar is the infantry's most reliable fire support weapon, but traditional mortars are too heavy, affecting troop mobility..." he muttered to himself, "If the weight could be significantly reduced while maintaining or increasing firepower, it would be a godsend for infantry units."

He opened his notebook, turned to the chapter on Special Alloy, and began to study it in detail.

As his reading deepened, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

【Insight Value sufficient, triggering "Material Science Genius" talent】

【Obtained "Special Aluminum Alloy Knowledge"】

【Obtained "Ultra-Light Mortar Design Blueprint"】

A stream of information suddenly flooded into Li Mingyuan's mind; various aluminum alloy formulas, performance characteristics, and manufacturing processes were clearly presented before his eyes.

What excited him most was a special Aluminum-Magnesium-Lithium Alloy; this alloy had low density, but its strength and heat resistance far exceeded ordinary aluminum alloys.

"This is it!" Li Mingyuan slapped the table, immediately picked up his pen, and began drawing the structure of the new Mortar on the blueprint.

Traditional mortars consist of three parts: the barrel, the baseplate, and the bipod, but Li Mingyuan's design used the Special Alloy for all three parts, while optimizing the structure and removing all non-essential components.

"82mm caliber, barrel length 1.2 meters, total weight only 25 kilograms..." Li Mingyuan recorded the parameters as he drew.

"60% lighter than standard mortars; a single soldier can carry and operate it independently!"

More importantly, he designed a special rifling structure inside the barrel, significantly improving ballistic stability; a muzzle brake was added to the muzzle to reduce recoil and improve the accuracy of continuous fire.

"Range increased to 4000 meters, 1.5 times that of traditional mortars, effective casualty radius 70 meters..."

Li Mingyuan continued to refine the design, but his brow suddenly furrowed.

"The range and lethality have increased, but if the aiming system is still traditional manual observation and manual adjustment, the improvement in accuracy will be limited..."

He put down his pen and fell into deep thought.

In this era without Computer and without satellite navigation, how to improve the accuracy of the Mortar was a big problem.